Category Archive: Events

In clutch situations (pun intended), not every manufacturer can come through with alternative solutions for originally specified equipment. That’s what sets BLM apart from other clutch manufacturers. Our portfolio of over 4,000 drawings enables us to modify designs for any challenging application.

It is one application in particular that we feel best represents our custom capabilities and extreme problem solving skills. The project involved an OEM customer in the City Waterworks industry and a 60 HP pump that was continually failing because the OEM clutch was unable to maintain alignment. This situation was very problematic as it disrupted service and prevented the system from operating properly. To maintain alignment between the between the drive and driven shaft, the OEM knew they needed a better clutch design.

Luckily for them they also knew who to turn to for a clutch that can be specifically designed for their application. Our solution consisted of an 8” GMG 80M3 clutch. This was a modification of a BLM drawing which used a gear coupling that allows for misalignment. The modified design also fit the space requirement while meeting tightest tolerances of ±0.003”. The most impressive part of this project is that we delivered 20 custom iron 8” centrifugal clutches in 3 weeks!

Special projects like this one are just one part of our comprehensive services. As a custom designer and manufacturer of centrifugal clutches for large and small applications, we are regularly called in to develop new solutions for existing problems. Our customers know that we can deliver correct clutch configurations for problematic applications and meet specific requirements.

Do you have unique requirements that demand a custom configuration? At BLM we are experts at designing, machining, and manufacturing centrifugal clutches that meet exacting project standards. Let us help you keep your systems running smoothly and efficiently and keep the jams on the toast!

Recently, at BLM, we were talking about our elders and the oldest people we know. My father turned 98 earlier this year, and one of my co-workers had just turned 80. Not everyone is fortunate to know someone in their 90s, but many of us do. We live in a time when life expectancy is longer than ever before, and it’s a global trend. The Guardian recently reported, “Global life expectancy increases to 71.4 years,” and added, “Life is getting longer, at the fastest rate since the 1960s.” These observations are based on numbers from the World Health Organisation (WHO). In fact, last week, a website based in Australia (Finder.com.au) shared a world map identifying the average life expectancy for every country around the world using the WHO numbers.

Getting back to our conversation at BLM, we continued to chat about the people from older generations that we currently know, and we were marveling about how some of them have lived, and continue to live long, productive lives. We came to the conclusion that it’s people who have strong relationships and connections with others who seem to thrive the most. Relationships really do help us in life, and it’s these relationships that make us want to keep on living. They make us happy, they drive us to live fully, and they motivate and propel us to move forward.

These principles apply to business. It’s important to have great relationships with the people you work with – including the people on your team that you see every day, and also the people you serve in business. Keep in mind that the average person spends 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime. (Source: BusinessInsider.com) Having positive, productive relationships with the people you work with definitely can serve you well in having a long life!

It seems that lately it’s become the easy and accepted thing to do in newer businesses to not consider having a true relationship with the people you work with. We know better at BLM, because we’ve been doing business for almost 85 years now – a long lifetime of experience in business designing and manufacturing centrifugal clutches for all types of applications.

The way we see it, we’re all spending more than half of our lives at work, so we might as well enjoy it! Many people simply work to retire, but others can never see themselves retiring at all. They thrive on the relationships they have with the people they work with, and the people they serve. I think most of us at BLM are like this, appreciating the relationships we have with our co-workers and our customers, and enjoying our work. It’s the positive interaction with other human beings that keeps us alive, in both our minds and our bodies.

So, getting back to the “secret” of a long life, it’s not really a secret at all. It’s having caring relationships with the people at work and the people you serve. Because, when you do have these relationships, it’s less like “work” and more like fun, serving and helping your friends. We also believe if you enjoy life, have fun in your business, and appreciate the people you’re fortunate to have relationships with, you’ll make the most of your time here on Earth – and hopefully that’s a long, fulfilling time! The secret to a long life isn’t a secret to us any more.

If you’ve heard about or participated in Manufacturing Day since it began two years ago, you won’t be surprised to learn that this year, it’s projected to be bigger and better than ever.

The date: October 3, 2014. The mission: to address “common misperceptions about manufacturing” while “amplify[ing] the voice of individual manufacturers” to address collective challenges.*

This year’s event will include even more career and educational workshops, open houses at facilities and plants, factory tours, and activities. It will also serve to encourage and engage young people, and show them how they can benefit from today’s manufacturing, which is more exciting and innovative than ever before.

Anyone can get involved. Individual businesses can open their doors and host official MFG Day events. Community leaders and business owners can sponsor events while supporting the MFG DAY mission. Educators, parents, and students can attend events; together, everyone can collectively celebrate this great industry.

After all, American manufacturing is more competitive than it has been in decades, and it’s continuing its remarkable comeback. It is a technologically-advanced, exciting industry that is the backbone of our country’s economy, and as such, it deserves to be celebrated, on MFD DAY, and every day.

Through this celebration and the events taking place around the country, manufacturers can show the world what they do and how important they are, while getting people involved, excited, and interested.

We encourage everyone—parents and teachers, fellow manufacturers, and anyone in between—to get involved and celebrate this great industry, an industry that’s critical to this country’s success.

* http://www.mfgday.com/about-us

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